Miles of Pleasure (31 page)

Ashton was taken aback. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it for sure. If it was the person he thought it was, he knew there would be trouble. He pulled the hands away from his face and turned to look at the woman. There stood the bitch radio deejay from New York who had tried to cause problems between him and Kaylee.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he spat at her. "Get out, you're not welcome." He looked over at Kaylee, and saw the shock on her face.

"Is that any way to treat a fan? Word in the tabloids has it that you and the girl broke up, so I thought I'd come and comfort you. Remind you what a real woman was," she purred at him, trying to put her arms around his neck in a hug, not even paying attention to the looks of disgust he was shooting at her.

"I don't care what happens between Kaylee and me, I would never touch you, ever again. I told you to get out, so go, before I throw you out myself," he yelled at her, attracting the attention of everyone around them. Security came over to see what was happening, and after getting the orders from Ashton, they escorted her out. She threw daggers at him with her eyes as she was hustled out of the room.

Once she was gone, Ashton looked over to Kaylee. "I'm so sorry about that. I wish she'd just leave us alone."

Kaylee shook her head. "It's not your fault. I know you don't like her." She looked around the room for a minute. "I'm going to head back to the bus now."

"Can I walk you back?" Ashton asked, not wanting her to be alone for someone to jump her.

"No, you stay here. I don't want to ruin your night. I'll just get a security guard to walk me," she told him.

"It's no problem, really. I'm ready for some peace and quiet anyway."

"Fine, but I really don't want you to stop partying just because of me," she told him.

"I'm stopping because I want to. Don't worry, you aren't ruining it for me," he smiled at her.

Just as they were walking out, Colton grabbed Ashton and pulled him aside. Ashton motioned to Kaylee to wait for a minute, then turned to Colton. "What's the problem?"

"Was having that bitch come here your idea?" he asked, not at all happy about the scene that had played out a few minutes before.

"What? No! That was not part of my plan. All I wanted to do was show Kaylee that I wasn't interested in any of the other girls who come here, even though I was single. That bitch showed up on her own, and if anything, she did more harm to my plan than good."

He glared at Colton and shook his arm out of his grasp. He walked back to where Kaylee was waiting for him.

"What was that all about?" she asked him.

"Nothing. Colton is in a funk lately," he told her, walking to the bus with her. There was a long moment of silence.

"You in the mood for a game of cards or something?" he asked.

"Sounds good," she told him with a smile. And for the next couple of hours, things between them were easy and light, giving them both hope for the future.

B
y the time the rest of the guys got back later that night, Kaylee and Ashton were sitting at the front table in a heated game of Crazy Eights. They were laughing and joking, which was so refreshing to the other bandmates, though their choice of card games had the others confused.

"Why are you guys playing a kids' game?" Colton asked.

"Because she was kicking my ass at poker, rummy, and 31, so I figured we'd try to play a game more my speed. Go Fish is next." Ashton laughed, the love shining in his eyes, as he looked up at Kaylee while he explained their game selection. His eyes never left hers, causing her to blush furiously.

"I think he was just letting me win," Kaylee laughed.

"No way!" Jayden said. "Ashton is ruthless. He never throws a card game to let anyone win, under any circumstances."

Kaylee laughed again, knowing the truth behind Jayden's words. "Well, how about we call this one a draw, because I am exhausted." She looked up at Ashton and stifled a yawn.

"Finally, I at least get a draw!" Ashton shouted, jumping up from the table and doing a victory dance.

Everyone laughed at him, and as Kaylee went to move past him to go back to her bunk, Ashton grabbed her and spun her around in a dance before letting her go. "Good night, sweetums," he said. All she could do was smile, roll her eyes, and shake her head.

Kaylee grabbed her pajamas and went to the bathroom to change. As she stood in there, she took a moment to fan herself. She looked in the mirror and saw her flushed face. She was in no way over Ashton, and there was no way they could be just friends for much longer. She loved him, he loved her, and nothing would be able to come between them again. She just needed to figure out how to get him back, and let him know that she did trust him. She knew they would be staying at a hotel in the next few days, so it would be the perfect time to make her move, and get the man she loved back into her life, the way he should be.

Once Ashton was sure that Kaylee had fallen asleep, he asked Noah if he could talk to him in private. Jayden and Colton seemed to get the hint, and went to the back to play a video game.

"What's up, man?" Noah asked.

"I need to ask you something serious, and know that you're on my side," Ashton told him, with a look of determination on his face.

Noah said, "Go ahead man, talk to me."

The next morning when everyone woke up, the bus was stopped outside of a hotel. "Sweet!" Jayden yelled, and ran off the bus, excited that they would be in a hotel for the next few nights. The rest took their time getting ready, knowing that there was no rush.

A few minutes later, Jayden came running back to the bus. "Guys, they have a kick ass breakfast buffet in there! Hurry up and get ready so we can eat. I'm starved!"

Kaylee looked to the front of the bus where Ashton was sitting quietly. He sat on one of the couches, biting one of his finger nails and zoning out, staring into space.

She nudged Noah, and nodded her head to the front where Ashton sat. "Is he okay? He seemed fine last night."

Noah looked at Ashton. "Yeah, he's okay. I think he was up late last night or something." He went to sit next to Ashton. The two sat with their heads together, in a hushed conversation.

Kaylee shook her head. She just hoped that things between them weren't going to take a step backwards. She had a great time the night before, but the way Ashton was looking, it almost appeared as though he regretted it. She walked forward slowly, and the minute they saw her, they stopped talking.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, a bit annoyed. "Are you guys ready to go eat?"

Both of them jumped to their feet. "Yeah, let's go. We've got a busy day today." Noah told her, putting his hand on her back and practically pushing her out the door. The rest of the guys followed her, ambushing the buffet as soon as they got into the restaurant.

Kaylee watched Ashton pick at his food, not really eating much. When the rest of the guys went up for a refill, Kaylee stayed behind with Ashton.

"Alright, out with it!" she ordered, and he looked up at her. "What did I do now?"

"What?" he asked, confusion written all over his face.

"We had so much fun last night, and now you're walking around like you don't want to be anywhere near me. You're not eating, you're not joking, you're barely talking. Just tell me what the deal is, and where I screwed up this time," she pleaded with him.

Ashton shook his head. "Trust me, you didn't do anything wrong," he told her. "I'm just having trouble with this song I'm writing, and it's really getting to me. I keep going over the melody and verses in my head, trying to make it work, and it's really distracting me," he tried to reassure her.

"Well, I wish I could help, but you know I'm no good at writing songs." She smiled for the first time that day, feeling that things were still good between them, and that she would be able to get him back, one way or another.

After breakfast, everyone parted ways. Noah and Kaylee decided to go to a movie, and have some sibling time together. Jayden and Colton were going to lounge by the hotel pool, and Ashton was going to try working on the song in his head a little more.

Noah and Kaylee had a great time at the movie. They filled up on popcorn and other movie theater treats, laughing throughout the comedy they had chosen to see. It was nice for them to be able to spend some time together without the rest of the guys around, even if Noah did seem a little distracted on the way to and from the theater.

When they got back from the movie, Kaylee went to her room and took a nap, resting up for the show that night.

All too soon, the group was at the concert venue, warming up, and getting into wardrobe and makeup. Each of them went about their own pre-concert ritual; Colton rubbed his hands, massaging them and stretching them out, Jayden lay on the couch, listening to music through a set of headphones, Noah sat in a chair, going over the songs in his head, Ashton was in the bathroom warming up his voice, and Kaylee was standing on the side of the stage, looking out at the crowd as the opening act played. It always made her nervous to see the people, but at the same time, she needed to prepare herself for the size of the stadium and how many fans were there for the show. If she had seen the audience for the first time when she went on stage, it would have freaked her out.